How to Find Water in the Wild

If you're lost in the wild near a river or lake, half the battle is over. In order to safely drink this water, you need to purify it. Boiling is the best and easiest way to make fresh water safe -- 10 minutes at a steady boil is a good rule of thumb. Of course, boiling water means you need fire and a container of some kind. If you don't have a container, you can probably find one or more of these items:

Aluminum can

Tin can

Large shell

Plastic bottle

Glass jar

Use your shirt or other cloth to filter out large bits of sediment before boiling. Believe it or not, plastic bottles do work for boiling. One method is to completely fill the bottle with water, cap it and drop it into some hot coals. The lack of air in the bottle should keep it from melting. If you don't have enough water to fill the bottle, suspend it above the fire with rope or vine so the flames just touch the bottom. The risk of boiling in a plastic bottle is that your bottle and main collection device may be gone. If you can't start a fire, leave the water in the sun in a clear container to help kill bacteria.

Another way to purify water is to use purification tablets. Many companies manufacture them, and they're mandatory in any survival kit. The tablets use either iodine or chlorine to treat the water. Many people are allergic to iodine, so make sure you know if you are before you use them. Murky water often needs more than one tablet to make it safe, and any tablet needs at least 30 minutes to be fully effective. Like with boiling, it's best to give the water an initial straining with some kind of cloth. It's also safer to drink warmer water, so if it's from a cold mountain stream, allow it to heat up a little in the sun first.

When you drop the tablet in the bottle, swish some of the water onto the cap and the mouth's threads. After boiling it or treating it with tablets, pour the water back and forth between two containers. It will add oxygen and improve the taste.

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Portable Filters and Purifiers

­The market for portable water filters and purifiers is, well, flooded. There are dozens of products to choose from, but they all basically work the same -- water is pumped in one end, goes through a series of filters and treatments and then out the other end. Some of them work by hanging a bag from a tree and letting gravity do its thing, and some have hand pumps. Some are battery operated and some are built into the center of a water bottle.

There is a difference between filters and purifiers. They both get rid of dangerous bacteria, but purifiers take care of viruses as well. The purifiers use chemical agents in addition to the regular filtration system. Most filters use a core made from ceramic, carbon or fiberglass. Purifiers have an additional chemical layer of iodine resin.

Even when using water filters, you should avoid water from areas where there's been obvious human or animal traffic­ [source: REI].